Deuteronomy 11

1 So have love for the Lord your God, and give him worship, and keep his laws and his decisions and his orders at all times.

Love the Lord your God and do everything he says—his rules, regulations, and commandments.

2 And be certain in your minds this day; for these words are not said to your children, who have had no experience of the training of the Lord your God, and who have not seen his great power or his strong hand and his stretched-out arm,

You should realize that it's not your children who have experienced the Lord your God's discipline. It was you who saw his greatness, his power and strength;

3 Or his signs and wonders which he did in Egypt, to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his land;

and his miracles. You saw what he did to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole country.

4 And what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their war-carriages; how he made the waters of the Red Sea come up over them when they went after you, and how the Lord put an end to them even to this day;

You saw what he did to the Egyptian army and its horses and chariots when he swept them away in the Red Sea, drowning them as they chased after you. The story hasn't changed!

5 And what he did for you in the waste land, till you came to this place;

You saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived here.

6 And what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; when they went down into the open mouth of the earth, with their families and their tents and every living thing which was theirs, before the eyes of all Israel:

You saw what he did, right there among you, to Dothan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab of the tribe of Reuben, when the earth split open and swallowed them down—their families, their tents, and all their animals.

7 But your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord which he has done.

You saw with your own eyes all the amazing things that the Lord has done.

8 So keep all the orders which I give you today, so that you may be strong, and go in and take the land which is to be your heritage;

So you must keep every commandment I am giving you today That way you will have the strength to enter and take over the country that you are crossing the Jordan to have as your own,

9 And that your days may be long in the land which the Lord gave by an oath to your fathers and to their seed after them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

You will also have long lives in the country that the Lord promised to give your forefathers and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 For the land where you are going is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you put in your seeds, watering them with your foot, like a planted garden:

The country you're entering to occupy isn't like the country of Egypt that you've come from. There you had to sow your seed and work hard irrigating the ground, like taking care of a vegetable garden.

11 But the land where you are going is a land of hills and valleys, drinking in the rain of heaven:

But here in the country that you are crossing the Jordan to take over is a land of mountains and valleys that receives plenty of rain

12 A land cared for by the Lord your God: the eyes of the Lord your God are on it at all times from one end of the year to the other.

It is a land that the Lord your God takes care of. The Lord your God it is always watching over it, all year long.

13 And it will be that if you truly give ear to the orders which I put before you this day, loving the Lord your God and worshipping him with all your heart and all your soul,

So if you pay careful attention to keep the commandments I'm giving you today, if you love the Lord your God and to worship with all your mind and with all your being,

14 Then I will send rain on your land at the right time, the early rains and the late rains, so that you may get in your grain and your wine and your oil.

then I will send rain for your land at the right time, rain in autumn and spring, so that you can harvest your grain, new wine, and olive oil.

15 And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, so that you may have food in full measure.

I will also provide grass in the fields for your livestock. You will have more than enough to eat.

16 But take care that your hearts are not turned to false ways so that you become servants and worshippers of other gods;

But make sure you're not that you're not fooled into worshiping and bowing down to other gods,

17 For if you do so, the wrath of the Lord will be burning against you, and the heaven will be shut up so that there is no rain and the land will give no fruit; and in a very little time you will be cut off from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

or the Lord will become angry with you. He won't send any rain, and the land won't produce any crops, and you will soon die, even in the good land that the Lord is giving you.

18 So keep these words deep in your heart and in your soul, and have them fixed on your hand for a sign and marked on your brow;

Focus your minds on the words that I'm saying. Tie them on your hands as reminders and put them on your foreheads as well.

19 Teaching them to your children, and talking of them when you are at rest in your house or walking by the way, when you go to sleep and when you get up:

Teach them to your children and talk about them when you're at home and when you're traveling, when you lie down and when you get up.

20 Writing them on the pillars of your houses and over the doors of your towns:

Write them on the doorposts of your homes and on your gates,

21 So that your days, and the days of your children, may be long in the land which the Lord by his oath to your fathers said he would give them, like the days of the eternal heavens.

so that as long as the earth lasts, you and your children may have long lives in the country the Lord promised to give your forefathers.

22 For if you take care to keep all the orders which I give you, and to do them; loving the Lord your God and walking in all his ways and being true to him:

If you are careful to keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow, if you love the Lord your God and follow all his ways, and hold onto him,

23 Then the Lord will send these nations in flight before you, and you will take the lands of nations greater and stronger than yourselves.

then the Lord will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will take over the country from nations that are greater and stronger than you.

24 Every place where you put your foot will be yours: from the waste land and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates as far as the Great Sea, will be the limits of your land.

Everywhere you walk will belong to you. Your territory will extend from the desert all the way to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.

25 All people will give way before you: for the Lord your God will put the fear of you on all the land through which you go, as he has said.

No one will be able to withstand you; the Lord your God will make everyone living there absolutely terrified of you wherever you go, just as he promised you.

26 Today I put before you a blessing and a curse:

Look! Today I'm placing before you both a blessing and a curse.

27 The blessing if you give ear to the orders of the Lord your God, which I give you this day:

You will receive a blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I'm giving you today.

28 And the curse if you do not give ear to the orders of the Lord your God, but let yourselves be turned from the way which I have put before you this day, and go after other gods which are not yours.

But you will receive a curse if you disobey the commandments of the Lord your God and don't keep to the path I'm ordering you to follow today by worshiping some other unknown gods.

29 And when the Lord your God has taken you into the land of your heritage, you are to put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

When the Lord your God takes you into the country you are going in to occupy, announce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

30 Are they not on the other side of Jordan, looking west, in the land of the Canaanites living in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, by the holy tree of Moreh?

(These mountains are to the west of the Jordan, in the country of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah near Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh.)

31 For you are about to go over Jordan to take the heritage which the Lord your God is giving you, and it will be your resting-place.

Shortly you're going to cross the Jordan to enter and occupy the country the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it over and settle there,

32 And you are to take care to keep all the laws and the decisions which I put before you today.

make sure you follow all the rules and regulations that I'm giving you today.